Do you worry about title theft?

Hillary said:

I'll just call it Blowfish Liver and Battery Acid Stew for Pessimistic Soul

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Now I'm just pissed. First you steal my title and then you MOCK it?!


Seriously, though, I suck at titles. I'm okay with that, because I'd rather suck at the title than the actual book. My titles are lame. Maybe I should steal some!

PeeDee said:

Carrie's Titles:

Midget Love II: The Short List

Midget Love III: Down Under

Midget Love IV: Low-Rider

Midget Love I (prequel): The Long and Short of It

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Are you TRYING to ruin me?! Now someone is going to steal all of those!!!!! GAH!!! No more sharing my titles with you, pal.

My novel has the best title ever.


WORKING TITLE


NOBODY touch it...it's mine.

The original working title for Long Way From Tomorrow was The Badly Written Novel.

Until about three days ago, my Roman Novel was titled Roman Novel. It had been that way for four months.

You can steal that title, if you want to.

*writes down all titles and leaves*

I tend to use my protaganist's last name as my working title. The only exception is a series of mystery short stories with a common cast of characters -- I use the location of the crime.

The title is usually the last thing I come up with, so I keep it a secret even from myself.

I don't see that as paranoia, or ego. I think it's one thing to be paranoid and another thing just to keep it to oneself. I'm not hugely worried about anyone stealing my stuff, but I'm proud enough of the premise of my Rome novel that I haven't really told anyone...and will continue not to do so.

So if you're a paranoid egomaniac, I guess I am too. Cheers.

My working title for a book about a girl who paints... "Painter Girl."

I'm sure, though, that I'll be much more secretive when I think of a real title.

.

PeeDee said:

Until about three days ago, my Roman Novel was titled Roman Novel. It had been that way for four months.

You can steal that title, if you want to.

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Dont change it, or if you do, don't tell me. I've gotten used to it that way. Every time you say "My Roman Novel" I know you're referring to your roman novel.
sheesh.



I don't worry about stolen anything. I'm just not good enough to encourage and tempt my peers to theft.
However, after telling everyone here the name of my current WIP I have stopped referring to it by name now that i realize it isn't just the working title but what it really should be named.
But I don't know why I stopped naming it by name It just feels like the right thing for me. I usually refer to it as TLFE . I am more likely to tell someone in person the name of it than I am to post it on the net. Unless someone is writing a book about the exact same thing I am writing about (which isn't really likely) the title wouldn't do them any good.

I give people titles all the time.

PeeDee said:

Worrying about manuscript theft is less useful than title theft. Honest. Manuscripts are a pain in the ass to steal & sell when it's your own, let alone stealing someone else's. It's easier to jack your car instead.

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Gimme back my car, Pete!

Everything I write starts with the title 'Once Upon A Time'. When I've proofed it and betaed it and proofed again, I give it a title. I don't even do an Amazon search to see if it has been used before. If someone really, really feels they have to take my title and use it, more power to them.

Chances are it will not be in the same genre anyway.

Oh. Excuse me. I've been calling one of my manuscripts 'Book the four' and another one 'Amber Sky' but that is only because I have 2 novels and 3 short stories in the works that are all called 'Once Upon a Time'.

It is the AW syndrome. As soon as you start posting around here you suddenly start developing every idea you've ever had.





Must be the Phentermine. Must be.

Titles can't be copyrighted. When I registered for my copyright, there were a few other pieces already called The Haven (a movie, etc) but at that point my title had grown on me, so I kept it.

The nice thing about titles not being copyrighted is that I used a song title for a chapter title because it fit and was really cool. Chapter 9 is "Veterans of the Psychic Wars," which is sure to please my fellow nerds.
For my next novel, I may call it God in the Machine, or Working Title, though it's presently called Sequel.

C.bronco said:

For my next novel, I may call it God in the Machine, or Working Title, though it's presently called Sequel.

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You bastard, I will sue you for this theft! I am outraged! I invented those word combinations!

Okay, okay, I'll change it, but only because I'm nice, not because I have to:
"Pete in the Machine" or "Deux ex Tzinski." Whaddya think?

"Pete" *is* a synonym for "God" so that should work out just fine!

PeeDee said:

...but...now I actually want to steal that title! What a terrific title!

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Noooooooooooooooooooooooo. It's miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.

*sniffles*

I've never much worried about anyone wanting to steal my titles because if most writers are like me and other authors I know ... they want to come up with their own titles.

Most writers, I think, if they put all that effort into writing a novel, would want to give it their own title ... it is a possessive thing. I don't believe writers go out looking to take someone else's title.

Then again ... maybe I'm just naive.

KTC said:

I give people titles all the time.

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Great. I could use one. Pass it over, please.

Skelly, keep your title to yourself because seriously, I'm looking for a good one to steal. Would it work for a story that's a cross between The Big Chill and Ghost?

This thread reminds me of a little incident that happened to me a while back. I posted the first chapter of my wip on my website (and it gets changed a lot because I keep trying to improve that chapter, but anyway ...), and at one point, I described my hero as someone "all the women wanted to sleep with, and all the men wanted to be friends with." I thought I was the first person to think of it. Well, it wasn't long until I was blogsailing, and omg! There was the description of my hero on someone else's blog! Stolen! Stolen! (and slightly improved, I'm sorry to say). So then, I was reading an agent's blog one day, and the subject of stolen work came up. Everyone was saying, "Nah, don't worry about it." I begged to differ. I adamantly insisted it does happen, and it happened to me.


That's when I found out that what I wrote is not only not original, it's so common, it's cliche. Oops. (I'm going to use this smiley, but I really wish we had one that blushes.)

I'd be just as worried if I came up with something super cool and original. So you're not alone.